Cement companies in Ethiopia may in future need mining rights from local regional governments as well as Central government to excavate raw materials.

The administration of the East Shewa Zone with the Oromia region, for example, has written to foreign cement firms that mine pumice for cement production to cede some of their operations to the cooperatives of unemployed youths in their areas.

The Ethiopian cement market is being fiercely contested by some 17 or more producers. Utilisation levels are low at 60-70 per cent and overcapacity in the market. Dangote Cement has informed ICR that it is no longer seeking to expand its capacity in the market in the forseeable future.

However, the government was well on its way to achieving at least 3.4m rural housing units by the end of 2017 and 3400km of planned roads will need approximately 7.6Mt of cement by 2021.